


Muggle Nonsense

by salixbabylon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-23
Updated: 2007-12-23
Packaged: 2019-05-16 18:12:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salixbabylon/pseuds/salixbabylon
Summary: Wizarding traditions or Muggle nonsense?  Harry learns a lesson at the Ministry Yule Ball.





	Muggle Nonsense

**Author's Note:**

> For [willowwing](http://willowwing.livejournal.com/), who wanted fluff, discovery, and magical mistletoe. Beated by the very awesome [helena_s_renn](http://helena-s-renn.livejournal.com/).

As usual, Malfoy was lurking around the edges of the party. This one was for the upcoming holidays and the Ministry Atrium was crowded with witches and wizards who'd had more than just a wee drop of eggnog. Not Harry, though, who had skipped the 'egg' entirely in favor of lots of 'nog' – or brandy, as the case may be. It had been six months and the Wizarding World seemed determined to make up for the bleak winter the year before with all sorts of extra holiday festivities.

Malfoy's eyes were _always_ on him at these functions, Harry thought, as he weaved his way though the crowd, intent on refilling his glass. Whether he was talking to a friend or trying to get away from a well-wisher or taking Ginny for a turn around the dance floor, he felt that intense gaze following him, and had ever since the end-of-the-war celebrations had begun. Now that it was all said and done, Harry found that the fight had gone out of his interactions with Draco; they were politely snarky but not actually malevolent to each other. Hermione had suggested that it had simply been too exhausting to stay angry with each other; after all, their fates were now intertwined many times over, with the number of instances they had each tried to kill each other and then been forced to save each other's lives.

Still it was disconcerting to feel those familiar eyes tracking his every move and it seemed to get worse with each party Harry attended. Despite their tentative truce, it was hard to let go of subconscious habits, and in the past, Malfoy's eyes constantly following him had led to trouble.

As it was a Christmas party, it was also a ball. Harry had been forced to dance with every female he knew, despite having come out last month (albeit somewhat accidentally – Dennis Creavey's camera had caught him snogging a blurry-faced bloke outside the loo at the Newt's Eye). As usual, encounters with strangers were easier to arrange in the dark when he was some anonymous "speccy git" than when he was the guest of honor at a well-lit party. George had offered him a pity dance, but Harry had just laughed and decided to drink away the evening instead.

Harry had already burned up at least three of the floating balls of mistletoe that were hovering over the heads of random partygoers when he made his way back to the bar for a refill and missed the one that was floating just to its side. Unfortunately Malfoy was also headed to the same destination and tripped the tracking charm on the greenery as he passed under it.

The wizard manning the bar laughed at them. "Well, kiss him, Mr. Potter – bad luck if you don't. Not like you don't swing that way, eh? Not according to what I seen in the Prophet last month," he winked.

Harry blamed the nearly half-bottle of brandy he'd already consumed, undiluted, for the fact that he considered the idea for a moment, looking at the pale pink flush of Draco's lips. He caught himself with a mental shake as the lips twisted into a familiar sneer.

"No thanks; I don't believe in that stuff. It's just Muggle nonsense," Harry said, taking his drink.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Potter, if you knew anything at all you'd know that mistletoe is a powerful magical plant and very important potions ingredient, not just some sordid excuse for a snog. It's protective, although how that got bastardized into a form of entertainment better suited to preadolescents than a Ministry function is beyond me."

"Yeah well..." Harry flailed, trying to think of a retort. "You're the potions expert, not me."

"That is abundantly clear," Draco said. He raised his drink in a mock-salute at Harry's compliment and left.

For the rest of the evening, though, those knowing eyes followed Harry, seeking him out wherever he might go. Draco didn't shy away from eye contact, either, when Harry turned and caught him in the act; he seemed unconcerned whether Harry knew he was being watched or not. Or perhaps he was even pleased about it - there certainly was a glint of amusement lurking in his eyes, as if he knew a secret that Harry didn't.

It was really starting to bother him. It wasn't creepy, not exactly. But it _did_ make Harry's skin prickle, not just on the back of his neck, but all over. It was almost like being touched lightly all over his body. Teased.

Caressed.

It was disconcerting to say the least, and once it was acceptably late and others were beginning to depart, Harry decided to take his leave as well. He hadn't felt those eyes on him in a little while, and it seemed like an opportune moment.

Of course then he _would_ meet up with Draco in the cloak room.

Silently, they both Summoned their cloaks and struggled into them. Well, Harry struggled; Draco gave his a flamboyant swirl and stepped into its folds as if he were a prince. He hesitated though, fiddling with something in his pocket, and for the merest flash of a moment Harry wondered if Draco was going to give him a present. Or hex him. Either seemed equally likely.

Instead, Malfoy held out a small sprig of the mistletoe. "You seem to need it rather a lot," he said, with a slight twist at the corners of his mouth.

Harry smiled and took the greenery between his fingers. Out of the corner of his eye, another ball of the stuff floated into the room and hovered meaningfully above Draco's head.

Harry sighed somewhat inside and gave up – after all, who was he to deny Fate?

"Sometimes kisses can be protective too," he said, moving into Draco's personal space.

The lips that his met had curved up into a definite smile. They pressed briefly together, hesitated, then met again more fully, lingering, testing, tasting. A firm hand wrapped around Harry's waist, while his own tangled in soft strands of platinum hair. A hum of something magical, something electric, swirled around them as they came together.

Both were flushed when they broke apart for air, cheeks still pressed together, bodies thrumming with newly-discovered possibilities.

"Sometimes," Draco agreed with a quiet smile.


End file.
